Books by the Beach: Scarborough's Seaside Literature Festival

April 11-15 will see the seaside town of Scarborough celebrate literature with their aptly named ‘Books by the Beach’ event.

This event will commemorate celebratory events of this year, such as one hundred years of Votes for Women and the bi-centenary of Mary Shelley’s classic novel, Frankenstein.

Scarborough's beach will provide the backdrop to the 'Books by the Beach' Literature Festival

There will also be a themed lunch at The Crescent Hotel, a Brazilian Breakfast at Palm Court, and a candlelit dinner, accompanied by a retelling of Romeo and Juliet, at Wykeham Abbey’s ‘Old Kitchen’. You can even cool your thirst with a literary themed cocktail at the Greensmith & Thackwray coffee shop.

The genre of crime has been a particular focus of the literary world this year and this festival will embrace this, as crime and thriller writers will be in attendance at this event.

A new drama set in the town hall council chamber will also be shown, alongside radio, screen and theatre stars taking to the stage.

This event will also explore the science of food, feature a dancer in the art gallery, musicians in the library and St. Mary’s Church will open its doors to the tales of Anne Brontë.

Childhood literature will be a reminiscent feature of this festival and prize winning authors, comedians and screenwriters will also be in attendance.

Ben Smith, who ran 401 marathons in the same amount of days, will also be at this festival, giving a talk on April 11 from 7.30pm – 8.30pm.

Writer, broadcaster and former stand up comedian Natalie Haynes will also be at the event, introducing her new novel, The Children of Jocasta, as part of the Oedipus and Antigone Greek Myths event, hosted by Peter Guttridge. This event will happen on April 11, 10.30-11.30am.

This festival has a wide range of different events happening over the five-day period, including appearances from Jeremy Vine, Tony Parsons and Yorkshire Vet’s Julian Norton, before finishing with a finale event featuring Ruth Jones on April 15, 7pm – 8pm.

Books by the Beach is a creative, action-packed event, which is fun for all the family and allows you to embrace the world of literature in the picturesque setting of Scarborough’s seaside resort.